Working at nanoscale dimensions, billionths of a meter in size, a team of scientists led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory revealed a new way to measure high-speed fluctuations in magnetic materials. Knowledge obtained by these new measurements, published in Nano Letters, could be used to advance technologies ranging from traditional computing to the emerging field of quantum computing.
Many materials undergo phase transitions characterized by temperature-dependent stepwise changes of important fundamental properties. Understanding materials’ behavior near a critical transition temperature is key to developing new technologies that take advantage of unique physical properties. In this study, the team used a nanoscale quantum sensor to measure spin fluctuations near a phase transition in a magnetic thin film. Thin films with magnetic properties at room temperature are essential for data storage, sensors and electronic devices because their magnetic properties can be precisely controlled and manipulated.
The team used a specialized instrument called a scanning nitrogen-vacancy center microscope at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, a DOE Office of Science user facility at ORNL. A nitrogen-vacancy center is an atomic-scale defect in diamond where a nitrogen atom takes the place of a carbon atom, and a neighboring carbon atom is missing, creating a special configuration of quantum spin states. In a nitrogen-vacancy center microscope, the defect reacts to static and fluctuating magnetic fields, allowing scientists to detect signals on a single spin level to examine nanoscale structures.
Ringworlds are one of science fiction’s most imaginative megastructures, essentially it is a giant ring that serves as a biosphere for an entire civilization or ecosystem at the very least, with the inside surface serving as a habitable world. Or Imagine a ring so enormous that its inner surface area could be equal to literally millions of Earths! The surface is designed to mimic a planetary environment, complete with cities, forests, and oceans. The structure would either orbit around a star or if it is big enough it would encircle the star. Using centrifugal force, its rotation is thus used to generate artificial gravity, while massive panels or “shadow squares” can be used to regulate light to create a day-night cycles. Obviously, contructing such a megastructure would require materials of super strength, far beyond anything currently known to exist and gathering resources for its construction could involve dismantling entire planets or asteroid belts. Can such things exist in reality? Maybe a higher tier alien civilization could make these, I don’t know, but in science fiction, there are quite a few of them out here & so lets take a look at the Biggest 10 of these ringworlds.
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February’s Longevity Review is now available, with a look at how the combination of Omega 3, Vit D & exercise can slow aging; a human trial of young blood plasma; Klotho gene therapy to increase lifespan; and, in the Canadian content study, how cellular reprogramming protects retinal neurons in multiple sclerosis.
A review of the most interesting and impactful longevity related studies from Febuary, with a look at how the combination of Omega 3, Vit D & exercise can slow aging; a human trial of young blood plasma; Klotho gene therapy to increase lifespan; and, in the Canadian content study, how cellular reprogramming protects retinal neurons in multiple sclerosis.
Contents:
1. Intro 0:00 2. Omega 3, Vitamin D & Exercise Slow Aging 0:55 3. Young Blood Plasma Human Trial 9:46 4. Klotho Gene Therapy Increases Lifespan 18:45.
For the first time ever, a very low frequency radio telescope has successfully sent back astronomical data from the lunar surface. Although the mission didn’t quite go as planned, the data has enabled ground-based researchers to confirm the low frequency signature of our own Milky Way Galaxy. A team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder has published their results in The Astrophysical Journal.
We have demonstrated that radio astronomy from the Moon can be done at reasonable costs, and the science potential is high, Jack Burns, a co-author on the paper and a professor emeritus of Astrophysics at the University of Colorado Boulder, tells me via email.
The team used the NASA-funded $2.5 million ROLSES-1 (Radiowave Observations on the Lunar Surface of the photo-Electron Sheath) instrument sent to the Moon as part of Intuitive Machine’s 2024 Odysseus lander. Although Odysseus landed near the ‘Malapert A’ crater, within some 10 degrees of the Moon’s South Pole, it landed badly.
A deadly fungal epidemic in Brazil is evolving fast: pollution, cats, and genetics may be fueling its unstoppable spread.
Brazil is facing the world’s largest and most persistent sporotrichosis epidemic, a fungal infection spread primarily through cats. A new study reveals an alarming genetic diversity in the fungus, suggesting that urban pollutants may be accelerating its evolution. Researchers identified molecular markers that could enhance diagnostics and treatments, while also highlighting the rapid adaptation and virulence of Sporothrix brasiliensis.
What is intelligence? We can all agree that humans are intelligent and many of us would likely extend that definition to the most mentally adept creatures of the animal kingdom—from dolphins to corvids. Scientists may extend that definition to all living animals, and some might even include plants. But for Michael Levin, Ph.D., all of those definitions woefully undercount the intelligences, or as he phrases them, “alien minds,” that surround us.
As a synthetic and developmental biologist at Tufts University in Massachusetts, Levin has explored the cognitive glue of bioelectricity, created biobots from animal and human cells, searched for empirical evidence defining the scope of cognition, and challenged many of the long-held tenets of molecular biology. Fascinated by electrical engineering and biology since he was seven years old, Levin says all of these efforts are in service of developing a mature field of diverse intelligence—one that can recognize that cognition lies on a spectrum, and that what humans perceive as consciousness could look radically different when compared to a cell or emerging artificial intelligence.
We spoke with Levin about how he developed these remarkable ideas, why he believes many alien minds live among us, and what he hopes for humanity’s future.
Consciousness is one of the most fundamental aspects of our existence, but it remains barely understood, even defined. Across the world scholars of many disciplines — philosophy, science, social science, theology — are joined on a quest to understand this phenomenon.
Tune into one of the more original and controversial thinkers at the forefront of consciousness research, Stuart Hameroff, as he presents his ideas. Hameroff is an anaesthesiologist who, alongside Roger Penrose, proposes that the source of consciousness is structural, produced from a certain shape in our brain. He expands on this, and much more (such as evolution), in this talk. Have a listen!
This compares some of the ringworlds, centrifuges, space stations, and ships that use spin to make gravity. It also try’s to show how the variables of artificial gravity are used to make centripetal acceleration into spin gravity.
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ REFERENCES 1. Hill, Paul R.; Schnitzer, Emanuel (1962 September). “Rotating Manned Space Stations.” In, Astronautics (vol. 7, no. 9, p. 14 18). Reston, Virginia, USA: American Rocket Society / American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. 2. Gilruth, Robert R. (1969). “Manned Space Stations – Gateway to our Future in Space.” In S. F. Singer (Ed.), Manned. Laboratories in Space (p. 1–10). Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag. 3. Gordon, Theodore J.; Gervais, Robert L. (1969). “Critical Engineering Problems of Space Stations.” In S. F. Singer (Ed.). Manned Laboratories in Space (p. 11–32). Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag. 4. Stone, Ralph W. (1973). “An Overview of Artificial Gravity.” In A. Graybiel (Ed.), Fifth Symposium on the Role of the. Vestibular Organs in Space Exploration (NASA SP-314, p. 23–33). Pensacola, Florida, USA, 19–21 August 1970. Washington, DC, USA: NASA 5. Cramer, D. Bryant (1985). “Physiological Considerations of Artificial Gravity.” In A. C. Cron (Ed.), Applications of Tethers in. Space (NASA CP-2364, vol. 1, p. 3·95–3·107). Williamsburg, Virginia, USA, 15–17 June 1983. Washington, DC, USA: NASA. 6. Graybiel, Ashton (1977). “Some Physiological Effects of Alternation Between Zero Gravity and One Gravity.” In J. Grey (Ed.). Space Manufacturing Facilities (Space Colonies): Proceedings of the Princeton / AIAA / NASA Conference, May 7–9, 1975 7. Hall, Theodore W. “Artificial Gravity in Theory and Practice.” International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2016, www.artificial-gravity.com/ICES-2016–194.pdf.
